| Phish – Devotion to a Dream Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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In the years before this album was released, singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio was known to have battled and beaten addiction. The whole band commented in interviews about the general party insanity that surrounded the band like a hurricane during the '90's and 00's I think this song looks back at the damage done to a relationship or maybe lots of relationships, and looks forward positively to reconnection and rejuvenation. Great song. |
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| Phish – The Line Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Songs with imagery and metaphor are really about all of us-- the listener and how we hear the lyrics. This song has basketball imagery, but all the stage fright / lightshow imagery makes this song seem like it's coming from a place of personal experience. The triangles on the floor and electric fans on the west (stage "west" or audience "west?" "Page side?" "Mike Side? are probably live show images -- spinning triangles of light moving across the floor are pretty common lighting effects. So for me, stepping to the line is going out on stage, facing the future with sobriety, with fear, and with excitement. The song that follows, Devotion to a Dream, carries on this theme. |
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| Phish – Winterqueen Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| edit: with glaciers and flooded muddy land, I wondered whether there was also some global climate change imagery going on here. Or maybe just the muddy grounds of a summer music festival, full of "butterfly and bee" people.... | |
| Phish – Winterqueen Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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The opening verse is probably in part a reference to Persephone, the wife of Hades in Greek mythology who had to spend winter in the underworld with her husband, causing winter above. The Summer queen flies over to say "the grass ain't always greener, girl..." The prince of silence and the guitarist neglecting to play a single bar may relate to a certain guitarist's time of addiction and musical hiatus. But then again there's that whole bit in Zappa's Joe's Garage where the guitarist, finally silenced and driven insane by the oppressive society represented by the Central Scrutinizer, plays one last guitar solo -- but only in his mind. Winterqueen is one of my favorites from Phish's "Fuego." |
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| Phish – Demand Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I'm not sure about whether it's about an accident that involves the fetus in the first part of the song, but the fetus does look "just like the guy [she] met uptown." | |
| Phish – Run Like an Antelope Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| correction - add: "been you to have any spike, man?" | |
| Phish – AC/DC Bag Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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This is correct-- I bet that the tune was called the more offensive version even before lyrics were composed over the changes. Then I imagine the gamehenge episode with its oblique references to homosexuality was added later, and thankfully, the title (but not the chords) was made less offensive... |
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| Phish – Glide Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I'm glide that you've read my interpretation. :) | |
| Phish – Glide Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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OK. I think I've got it. I figured it out while driving my iMiev around today and listening to "Pickin' on Phish." Celtic guitar composition. In Ireland, especially the North (I've been there), I'm pretty sure "GLAD" is pronounced....... well, "GLIDE." There's a dipthong in the word. Try it! Say in an Irish/ East London accent. Picture Trey having written the basic cheerful Celtic style guitar song and having "Glad" as a working title. Add a linguistically minded person or the band or whoever goofing on the title in an Irish accent while putting the full band arrangement together, and there you go. The nonsense about being glad that you're a glide fits. The part about arriving and being alive always had me thinking about driving to shows safely and soberly, or at least reasonably so. |
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| Phish – Contact Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Probably just an excuse to do a silly song with a bass intro for Mike Gordon to play.... | |
| Phish – Riker's Mailbox Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Riker's Island or Commander William T. Riker? Hmmmm..... | |
| Phish – Wolfman's Brother Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Well, shouldn't it be "weren't?" I mean, subjunctive case and all.... | |
| Macklemore – Thrift Shop Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| This song is a rejection of overly label-conscious clothing choices. But mostly it's just funny as hell. And the video is not to be missed. Macklemore's other music takes on more serious issues such as drug abuse, but the message of image and commercialism here is also an important one. | |
| Phish – The Mango Song Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think this song has a character who works in a restaurant and who happens to have a monkey on his back. Painkillers or Heroin. Tilting and sliding seems to be a reference to the high of those drugs, and users are indeed tranquil and serene until they run out of supplies. Someone else commented that this was a reference to a Vietnam vet, which makes less sense to me, but many did wind up with addictions to medications from treatments for injuries and from the psychological trauma of the war. |
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| Phish – Manteca Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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There is a theme of STD's and using protection in the album, especially in the song "Cavern." Manteca is Spanish for cooking lard, I would guess with a reference to a curvy woman, too. In "Cavern," we're reminded to take care of our shoe after a list of synonyms for condoms. Here, the singer laments a "Crab" in our "Shoemouth." Elsewhere in the album, the singer can no longer carry on his relationship with his lover due to being in the hospital with a "tube" in his "ween." Not the most mature way to address the AIDS epidemic that was raging at the time this album came out, but as a teenager when this came out, I got the message. It's a regular PSA! From my Guelah Papyrus comment: I think this song is about expecting to catch a cheating girlfriend in the act, with undertones of fears of venereal disease as a running theme? Why? Well, when you listen to the other lyrics on the album, STD's are something of a running theme-- it's a public health announcement to jam band types everywhere. "Whatever you do, take care of your shoe" (Cavern) lest you get a "Crab" in your "Shoemouth" (Manteca) "In summing up, the moral seems A little bit obscure... Give the director a serpent deflector A mudrat detector, a ribbon reflector A cushion convector, a pitcher of nectar * A viral dissector,a hormone collector" (Cavern) - this entire list is a collection of synonyms for condoms. With the exception of a "picture of Nectar." Nectar's was a club that Phish played in and while I haven't seen the proprietor myself, it would presumably be enough of a turn off to prevent any activity that might result in catching anything!!! And I think bacteria can come in the shape of little serpents, ribbons, rods, or tiny spheres. Yuck. This album came out during the AIDS epidemic when I was a teenager-- I think the message was pretty clear at the time. The remainder of "Cavern's" lyrics contain a lot of disease imagery, and other earlier tunes like Golgi Apparatus suggest that microbiology tends to come up in Phish lyrics. So the singer imagines himself paralyzed by a spider, a "fly on the wall" to witness the tryst of his lover, and then imagines walking in, causing frowns all around-- and noticing that his photo frame on the nightstand has been turned flat on the table. |
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| Phish – Cavern Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I wanted to paste my comment on "Guelah Papyrus" here as I think it relates. I especially love how a "picture of Nectar" (proprietor of a music venue- "Nectar's") is enough to act as a prophylactic! Cavern is indeed a vagina image, and there is unsettling sexual imagery in the song as others have commented, both of rape and of disease. Quote from my GP entry: I think this song [Guelah Papyrus} is about expecting to catch a cheating girlfriend in the act, with undertones of fears of venereal disease as a running theme? Why? Well, when you listen to the other lyrics on the album, STD's are something of a running theme-- it's a public health announcement to jam band types everywhere. "Whatever you do, take care of your shoe" (Cavern) lest you get a "Crab" in your "Shoemouth" (Manteca) "In summing up, the moral seems A little bit obscure... Give the director a serpent deflector A mudrat detector, a ribbon reflector A cushion convector, a pitcher of nectar * A viral dissector,a hormone collector" (Cavern) - this entire list is a collection of synonyms for condoms. With the exception of a "picture of Nectar." Nectar's was a club that Phish played in and while I haven't seen the proprietor myself, it would presumably be enough of a turn off to prevent any activity that might result in catching anything!!! And I think bacteria can come in the shape of little serpents, ribbons, rods, or tiny spheres. Yuck. This album came out during the AIDS epidemic when I was a teenager-- I think the message was pretty clear at the time. The remainder of "Cavern's" lyrics contain a lot of disease imagery, and other earlier tunes like Golgi Apparatus suggest that microbiology tends to come up in Phish lyrics. So the singer imagines himself paralyzed by a spider, a "fly on the wall" to witness the tryst of his lover, and then imagines walking in, causing frowns all around-- and noticing that his photo frame on the nightstand has been turned flat on the table. |
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| Phish – Guelah Papyrus Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think this song is about expecting to catch a cheating girlfriend in the act, with undertones of fears of venereal disease as a running theme? Why? Well, when you listen to the other lyrics on the album, STD's are something of a running theme-- it's a public health announcement to jam band types everywhere. "Whatever you do, take care of your shoe" (Cavern) lest you get a "Crab" in your "Shoemouth" (Manteca) "In summing up, the moral seems A little bit obscure... Give the director a serpent deflector A mudrat detector, a ribbon reflector A cushion convector, a pitcher of nectar * A viral dissector,a hormone collector" (Cavern) - this entire list is a collection of synonyms for condoms. With the exception of a "picture of Nectar." Nectar's was a club that Phish played in and while I haven't seen the proprietor myself, it would presumably be enough of a turn off to prevent any activity that might result in catching anything!!! And I think bacteria can come in the shape of little serpents, ribbons, rods, or tiny spheres. Yuck. This album came out during the AIDS epidemic when I was a teenager-- I think the message was pretty clear at the time. The remainder of "Cavern's" lyrics contain a lot of disease imagery, and other earlier tunes like Golgi Apparatus suggest that microbiology tends to come up in Phish lyrics. So the singer imagines himself paralyzed by a spider, a "fly on the wall" to witness the tryst of his lover, and then imagines walking in, causing frowns all around-- and noticing that his photo frame on the nightstand has been turned flat on the table. The relationship issues that run through the sequence of songs here also echo the dysfunctional relationship theme here. |
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| Grateful Dead – West L.A. Fadeaway Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| The "minute or two" in the later chorus might extend the reference to hard drug use, not just to prostitution. Fun times! Well, I guess there sure are a lot of amazing songs about heroin... just glad I never had the occasion to write one. | |
| Phish – Gotta Jibboo Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Ha, JimGwym must be right -- give it a listen-- Trey puts high piched "baby cry" sounds into his looper which fades as he builds into the solo. | |
| Bob Marley and the Wailers – Mr. Brown Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Heroin would be my guess. | |
| Phish – You Enjoy Myself Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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when I first caught a whiff of your feet, I said "boy!" They were still stinkin' and I said "Man your feet stink." You took your shoes off and I said "GOL' DANG your feet stink." The socks came off and "Shit, man your feet stink!" If this song is indeed about smelly feet in any way, the Zappa reference is kind of obvious, too. |
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| Phish – Down With Disease Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Taken together with "Wolfman's Brother," this song is indeed partly about the issues of touring and the press of the party crowd. Why? Imagine being any of these guys, even Tom Marshall. I remember being a Phish fan when this album came out (we were a bit bummed-- too commercial, man...ha). The scene was all about how cool of a Phish fan were you? Who did you know in VT? Which of your friends was blowing glass in Eugene, OR? Etc. A recent NY Times article at a more straightedge recent show related some of this intensity. I can imagine what things were like at the center of the vortex that was Phish circa 1994. Must have been insane. Anyway, imagine being any of these guys. Hippies from all over the nation would be trying to hang out and party with you 24/7. "Barefoot Children" outside dancing on your lawn. Literally. Who wouldn't begin to wonder when to take a break from that? So here's my interpretation. These fans, well, they had "Downwith" disease. 'Hey, I'm down with Fish-- he came by our after party at the hotel suite after the show...' 'Ooo you're awesome.' And so on. Marshall writes a song about being sick, but with the undercurrent of questioning the particular intense social situation that the band found itself in. Double meaning fully intended. Wolfman's Brother continues the theme, when "many years ago" that first quasi-intrusive phone call came in from some bearded Phish head (God bless 'em) got a hold of say, Mike's phone number.... the song continues on to describe the intense roar of the crowd-- "across between a hurricane and a ship that's run aground" and "the high pitched cavitation of propellers from afar." I'm so Downwith Phish that I done figured it out! :P Not really, but I'm sticking to my guess/interpretation. |
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| Simple Minds – Don't You (Forget About Me) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| RIP John Hughes 8/6/09 | |
| Phish – Dinner And A Movie Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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ha ha ha ha. it's funny to see songs like this on sites like this. the semi-screaming delivery of the lines that this song builds up to is kind of creepy... |
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| Phish – Birds Of A Feather Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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the Phish scene got out of control in many ways. The worst, from my standpoint, was a whole competition to see who could be the most old school fan, (dropping dates of attended shows like some hollywood person dropping celebrity names...) who started going to shows first, who had the gnarliest glass, widest homemade corduroys, etc. The preppy ethos did overtake the scene, as did heavier drug abuse. Whippets are not birds, but rather nitrous. Nitrous tanks (laughing gas sold in large balloons) are probably one of the seemiest elements of dead/phish parking lot and general jam band scene-- lots of money involved, shady sellers, users who are really harming themselves for a 20 second rush... The mention of whippets makes it hard not to assume that this song is about this parking lot scene, where people "flock" before shows. Much of that scene is zany and fun. Much is unsavory. I think this song is about people who get caught up in a certain side of this scene in the wrong way or for the wrong reasons. |
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| Phish – Simple Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| silly phish, skyscrapers are for cities. | |
| Phish – Axilla Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axilla what does the melting of genitals have to do with an armpit? |
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| Phish – Chalk Dust Torture Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Here's my take: Coke is a strong vasoconstrictor. So yeah, this song is about drugs. But it might be about drugs that have a vasodilation effect. (thc is a mild vasodilator) And yes, it's about being stuck in school. A lot of this song has got to be some kind of scene from or related to the Gamehendge story, right? The story seems to be largely a soap opera of spying, intrigue, torture, double crossing, etc. Two characters seem to be facing off in this song, one of whom seems to have some kind of special sense that allows them to see through the other's poker face and recognize them as an enemy full of wrath. Of course, the whole Gamehenge story has to owe some of its creation to various altered states experienced by it's writer. What I get is that there is this Jezmund, a mercenary warrior who is easily bought is facing someone who is possibly begging for their life to be spared and willing to "talk" and give something away about Locust the Lurker (yet another spy). But after the "who can unlearn" chorus, Jezmund seems to be in a different state. After plugging the distress tube up tight (shooting up?), Jezmund watches words flutter away and experiences the sense that all emotions are harmless and kept at bay. Just about everything I've read about opiates like Heroin describes this kind of sensation. Just my take, but I'm probably confusing what I can of the ending for all I know. Joe |
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| Phish – Chalk Dust Torture Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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You're thinking of another Phish song.... the pressure builds... you buy a gift... you're hoping that your dread will lift... it glitters on her like a glass you shut her eyes, it comes to pass but then of course, this could be about a drug too! Marriage is strong stuff, though. Lots of side effects, but you get pretty addicted to your spouse! |
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| Phish – Round Room Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think both the "round room = venue" and the drug metaphor make a lot of sense. | |
| Phish – Backwards Down The Number Line Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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backwards down the numberline= leaving the present(s) behind and taking a trip down memory lane. with a friend on the telephone. Lots of your friends might call you on your birthday, coming backwards down the number line. The only rule (about life) is that it begins. You decide what [your life] contains and how long it lasts. I like the mathematical aspect of the song. A number line begins (at the origin) and extends to infinity. If you break down the song, it is really making the claim that somehow life is as infinite as the number line itself. If the "only rule" is that "it begins," then by extension, there is no rule about anything else, but death in particular. I think that the message is less "hey man there are no rules, party hearty!" but rather "congratulations, you got yourself born. What will you do with this gift? How can you make it infinite and pass on the positivity? How about through celebrating and tending to your connections with your friends?" That's a good idea. I miss my buddy in Cali. I should give him a call. |
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| Phish – Fast Enough For You Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think you have to take this song in context with the rest of the album, which tracks this relationship through breakup, absence (the dream sequence after the guy falls asleep alone on his bed in "lengthwise") and a sort of sheepish reunion (horn) | |
| Phish – Roggae Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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My sense is that this is more than a song about "dude it's awesome to be in Phish" I think there is an ambivalence here about the experience of being in the band. There's some negative feelings-- frowning, feeling that life is moving too fast, but the singer is resigned, happily enough, to wandering musically though the CK5 light show and the smoke (mist) where (likely drug induced) dreams are "provoked" by the music. The words "provoked, darkness, and frowned" seem to add to this slightly negative ambivalence of the experience of this aspect of being a member of this particular band. See also "Wolfman's Brother," "Birds of a Feather" and some of the themes that run through the album "Billy Breathes" for more lyrics that might convey similar feelings. I personally find the singer's acceptance of the situation for what it is and the wonder at the beauty, peacefulness, and transformational experience of a Phish show. The introspective jam that follows seems to me to be exploring these feelings. Joe |
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| Phish – Wolfman's Brother Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song, which came out on (hung like a) Hoist, after Phish had reached a stadium sized following, with variously dreadlocked/ bearded/ hairy corduroy pant wearing young gentlemen faithfully following the band around. One can imagine various levels of access to the band, and a sort of hippie paparazzi press to get backstage or into exclusive parties. This is what I always imagined the song to be about-- these furry guys I'd see at every show and at every party I went to back then. Thus, the sound similar to "the high pitched cavitation of propellers from afar" would be the roar of the crowd, a crowd with some of the qualities of a hurricane, and a ship that's run aground-- the song really gave me some insight how it might feel to be in the eye of that hurricane, perhaps while watching the ship-running-aground self-destructive actions of many of the folks in that crowd. Not sure if it's about an ostensibly hairy brother of Jon Fishman... and no idea about the phone call, other than unwanted phone calls from rabid fans who get ahold of a star's phone number. the side street and stairway to the stars invites an image of a rock star ascending some metal back steps into some venue in through a door marked with a star-- like some old b'way dressing room-- when he is discovered by the crowd outside. See also the lyrics to "birds of a feather." I think it's talking about similar experiences. Ever been to a show? |
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